Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Hi darls! I am Ramintessah Aihara. I am so thrilled to be here and so thankful to Liza and the DTs of this blog. I am a Filipina and I am married to Yoshi. I am currently living in Japan. We don't have any kids yet so I have plenty of time for scrap booking and procrastinating.*wink* I learned scrap booking six months ago in my attempt to give a personalized gift for my husband. Since then, I am hooked. I am a very tyro scrapper and I can say that my style and designs are evolving around the different inspiration I used to get tru blog hopping and internet surfing. I love to experiment on every technique that I see on the net. Looking at my works, you will notice that most of them are vibrant and bright in nature.Yup,I love to grab a lot of orange, yellow and green from my stash. Lately, I have been playing with paint and mist to add texture on my layout. I love altering chipboard too and Diamond Glaze is my best friend at the moment.lol! And should I say, my most favorite technique is hand stitching. I would really love if you could visit me at my scrapping blog I hope my project would somehow inspire you to create something for this month. Again,thanks for looking at my work, listening at my story and for having me here this month.

- Paper Pad- ordinary paper pad will do; they have gridlines for easy writing- Some scrap papers- Stash you have been hoarding- O-Wire- mine is 3/4 inch in size- Bind-It-All - If you don’t have it, you can sew your pages or use some bind rings- Elastic band - this is for the closure- Sturdy cardstock or cardboard

Step-by-step instructions:1) Gather your materials. I intend to make this a simpler journalling notebook so my pages comprise most of paper pad. I get some leftover papers and try to arrange them in between the paper pad. By the sizes of your scrap papers, decide the size of the pages of your notebook. Mine is 5x7 inches.2) Cut your pages into desired size. I recommend using random/smaller pieces of your scrap to add texture on your pages.3) Decide on how to arrange your pages. I decided to use my BIA to punch holes through the pages.

4) Bind your pages together. If you want your notebook to look more random, add some pieces from your leftover stash. Here are some ideas on what you can add;a. Small cards - journalling cards, speech bubbles and the likesb. Random bits - like alphabet flash cards or playing cardsc. ATCsd. Envelopese. Tagsf. Transparencies/Overlays

5) Once you’ve decided on the arrangement of your pages, bind your pages together. For this, I use a 3/4 inch Zutter O-wire.6) Embellish your cover and pages.Some tips on how to embellish your notebook:a. If you want to journal with it, add some white pages or maybe some quotes. You may want to use embellishments that are not so bulky.b. Grab those smaller pieces from your scraps and accent each of your pages.c. Use some old rub-ons to jazz up your pagesd. Decorate cover by painting or maskinge. Use some vintage items you have. In one of my notebooks done in the past, I used an old page of dictionary, cut the reflection word definition and add it to my front pagef. Be creative, use something you find unique. I used a hemp twine to add interest on my notebookg. Small flowers and buttons are always fabulous.h. Use some bradsi. Stamp your pages

7) Here’s a way of making a closure for the journal. Punch holes on the back cover. Decide how you want to position your eyelets. These holes are used to hold your elastic band in place. I punched it in the center, just by eye balling it. If you can see I punched three holes. I made a mistake. lol! So be careful and think first.8) After punching the holes, insert the band and the eyelet. Ensure that before you set the eyelet, the band will be locked and set with the eyelet. Do check the length of your band, ensure it’s not too tight as you don't want it to distort your journal. Give enough allowance as your journal might become bulky in future.

9) After setting the eyelets and band, check if it is firmly attached and try to close the notebook with the band. For a cleaner look, cut a piece of card stock or pattern paper to hide the eyelet and the ends of the band. This will also help to keep the band firmly stay in place.And here’s the finished product!!Here are our takes for this tutorial

Our Founder cum Resident Designer, Liza Yet will not be continuing with Artz de Scrap. With her current commitments, she has decided to leave the team.

Here's wishing Liza all the best in her endeavours!

We wish to thank her for starting this awesome blog and all her contributions to Artz de Scrap. We will definitely miss her!

Here's what Liza would like to say...

Dear Artz de Scrap's members, it is with great sadness that I have to inform you that I am leaving Artz de Scrap. It is due to personal reasons.

When I started Artz de Scrap, I only had 1 goal in mind and that was to encourage and prove to everyone that altering is fun and simple. Anyone can do it if they try, I am glad to see that the number of scrappers attempting it has greatly increased and there is an avenue for them to learn through the tutorials held here and a chance to win a prize for their marvelous attempts.

I am forever grateful to Felicia, Cabbie, the rest of the talented DTs for their tremendous unwavering support for Artz de Scrap and to the wonderful supporters of Artz de Scrap for your generous support and participation.

Lastly, I am happy to annouce that I will be leaving Artz de Scrap in Felicia's good hands. I hope you will continue to support and have fun with Artz de Scrap and its wonderfully talented team members!

I am a mom and a Montessori teacher. Making different objects of art is a passion. I create because I like to challenge myself, just to see if I can really do what I can think of. I think, growing up without a Barbie doll helped me make my own dolls.

1. You're stuck at a crop and you have only 5 items, what do you absolutely have to have?I must have a photo, adhesives (liquid glue), scissors, ruler, and ribbon.

2. Where do you get most of your "scrapbook"inspiration?I find inspiration in the most mundane places, often while walking in the mall or while admiring nature. I find myself saying, "This would look great in a LO or a project!"

3. What is your life mantra or favorite quote?

I can do that better. I am challenged to disprove others when they say it can't be done. I like to find solutions that are unique.

4. What do you like the most about your own scrapbooking style?

My style is very vintage, often showing in the choice of colors I use and am most comfortable with. Often, my style tends to be romantic as well, using vintage lace. Lately, I like using stamps and exploring the many ways I can use stamped images and stamp inks.

5. If you had to give one tip to a beginning scrapbooker, what would it be?

Create for you, not for anyone else. This means you should find the style you're most comfortable with and stay with it. One shouldn't change to suit someone else.

Are you a scrapper who likes to alter all things beautifully? Looking for unique artistic ideas as well as everyday, accessible projects that makes great gifts for friends and family? If your answer is YES, YES and YES, then you've come to the right Blog!!!Here at Artz de Scrap we are dedicating this site to inspire Scrappers through all the different altering techniques available and we will be sharing all the beautiful and unique creations by our scrappers.